Dog treats and chews are given to dogs for a variety of reasons. Dog chews are used to help clean the teeth of dogs. Dog treats may have the same cleaning function, as well as provide nutritional value.
Many dog chews are made from rawhide, which is untanned cow skin. The skin is dehaired and cleaned of fat and muscle. The rawhide may be bleached with hydrogen peroxide to improve its appearance. The skin is then manipulated into the desired shape, such as by folding or rolling, and dried.
The problem with rawhide is that it is indigestible, being essentially leather. Dogs lack the enzymes needed to digest the rawhide. When a dog chews rawhide, pieces can break off and lodge in the dog's digestive tract. In some cases, an occlusion, or blockage, as well as impaction, occurs, requiring veterinary attention. Furthermore, rawhide is low in palatability, so that dogs quickly lose interest in it.
An alternative to rawhide chews and treats are pigskin products. Pigskin is digestible and has some nutritional value. Pigskin stimulates the dog's gastrointestinal tract to produce digestive enzymes. Thus, pieces that enter the digestive tract of dogs do not cause problems.
Furthermore, pigskin is generally used for other products other than pet chews and treats. The production of leather creates leftovers or scrapes of skin that can be used for colloidal protein and for making pet supply products.
Untanned pigskin is so unsightly that humans are unlikely to purchase products made from it. In order to increase the visual attractiveness of dog chews and treats, the pigskin product is smoked. Smoking imparts a browning color to the skin. Unfortunately, smoking increases the acidity of the product, thereby reducing its palatability to dogs. The product may be coated with molasses or other things to alleviate the smoke flavor, but these coatings are easily licked off because the coating does not penetrate the skin product. The remaining product is then discarded by lack of interest by dogs.
In addition, pigskin is different from rawhide so that some of the processes used for rawhide do not work well for pigskin. Pigskin contains oils and impurities not found in rawhide and the skin fiber is different.
Thus, what is needed is a pigskin suitable for use in dog products, which pigskin is both attractive to humans and palatable to dogs.